Men's Basketball

MARCH 3:
SAINT XAVIER 89, USF 60

CHICAGO -- Fourteen first-half turnovers and 10 offensive rebounds by Saint Xavier was not what University of St. Francis coach Pat Sullivan wanted to see Tuesday night in the first round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. Those two numbers stood out on the halftime statistics sheet and spelled doom for the Saints in an 89-60 season-ending loss to the Cougars.

"There really is not much else to say except to give all the credit in the world to Saint Xavier," said Sullivan following the game. "They came out and executed their game plan very well, both on offense and defense. We did just the opposite.

"We felt that we were prepared but obviously we didn't play that way."

Saint Xavier (16-15) established control very quickly, jumping to a 15-4 lead in the game's first four-and-one-half minutes. The Cougars hit their first three 3-point attempts and put the Saints (11-19) in a big early hole.

But the Saints -- and namely senior forward Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) -- were able to close the gap back to just 6 points at 19-13 with 10 minutes left in the half. Rabenau had 10 of those 13 USF points and was the only Saint having any success around the basket.

Saint Xavier, though, quickly regained control with a 14-0 run that expanded the lead to 33-13 with 6:34 left.

By halftime, it was 43-23 in favor of the Cougars and Rabenau had 16 of the 23 USF markers.

SXU came out strong in the opening minutes of the second half and took away any notion Sullivan and the Saints had of trying to make a comeback. The Cougars stretched the lead to 30 points at 57-27 and both teams emptied their benches for most of the rest of the contest.

Rabenau finished his night with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting. He did all that in just 25 minutes of playing time and was the lone Saint to crack double figures.

"Rob played his heart out tonight," said Sullivan. "Unfortunately we didn't give him much help. He had two great seasons for us and we will miss him next year."

Sullivan was disappointed to see his team's season end with such a poor showing.

"We have no excuses. We played two bad games in the last 11 -- our 10 conference games and this playoff game. And both of those bad games came right here at Saint Xavier. (SXU defeated USF 76-56 on Feb. 14). They really had our number.

"I thought our second group played well and really played hard," continued Sullivan. "Those young guys will be back and will get their chances to play more next year."

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FEB. 28:
OLIVET NAZARENE 71, USF 52

JOLIET — University of St. Francis went scoreless in the final 4:32 Saturday night and a close game turned into a 19-point setback as visiting Olivet Nazarene defeated the Saints, 71-52.

The game was the final regular-season contest for both schools as each will begin play in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament on Tuesday.

The Saints (11-18, 2-8) led the entire first half and went into the locker room with a 5-point halftime edge after senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) banked in a buzzer-beating jumper to make the score 34-29.

Olivet Nazarene (14-14, 6-4) finally caught USF and took the lead for good at 44-42 with 12:13 remaining in the game. While Olivet never relinquished that lead, USF kept the game very close for the next eight minutes.

ONU’s lead got no bigger than 6 points in that eight-minute stretch and USF closed within a point at 52-51 on a Robinson free throw with 5:44 left.

The lead was just 4 points at 56-52 after a Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) free throw with 4:32 on the clock.

Unfortunately, that would be the last point registered by the Saints in the game.

The Tigers slowly increased the lead and pushed it to 10 points with three minutes left and finally to 19 at the at end of the game.

Rabenau led the Saints with 13 points. Junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) added 12 and freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) finished with 11. Hubly left the game early in the second half due to illness and did not return, a big blow to the Saints’ offense as USF managed just 18 points in the final 20 minutes.

USF finishes in fifth place in the CCAC regular-season standings and will travel to Chicago Tuesday night for a quarterfinal matchup at fourth-seeded Saint Xavier. A USF win would send the Saints to Chicago’s north side on Thursday for a date with league champion and top-seeded Robert Morris in the semifinals.

NOTES: Seniors Rabenau, Robinson, Dan Kieres (Northridge Prep/Chicago, IL), Hozay McGaha (Lane Tech H.S./Chicago, IL) and Ian Jones (Reavis H.S./Burbank, IL) were honored in pre-game ceremonies. Jones has missed the entire season due to a knee injury suffered last year.

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FEB. 25:
INDIANA SOUTH BEND 69, USF 63

JOLIET — University of St. Francis battled and scrapped for 40 minutes but every time the Saints got to a point where it appeared they might overtake Indiana University South Bend Wednesday night, the Titans’ Tyler Leighton would slam the door in their faces.

Leighton scored a game-high 27 points -- including the dagger, an off-balance 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the game that pushed the Titan lead to 5 points -- as Indiana South Bend wrapped up second place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season standings with a 69-63 victory over USF at the Recreation Center.

The two teams traded leads early in the game but IUSB took control in the final seven minutes of the opening half and never lost the lead again.

But the Saints would not let the Titans -- who have won five in a row and nine of their last 10 -- get comfortable.

IUSB (13-16, 7-2) extended its 4-point (26-22) halftime lead to 8 points at 34-26 in the first three minutes of the second half but USF came charging back to trim the lead to just a single point at 36-35.

The Titan lead then stayed between 1 and 5 points for the next seven minutes before IUSB was able to push the margin to 7 points on one of Leighton’s 5 3-point baskets and lead 51-44 with 8:14 left.

Again USF responded as it methodically cut into the lead and finally chopped it to 3 points at 58-55 with 5:06 left. The Saints moved within 2 points at 60-58 with 3:48 remaining and again at 63-61 with 2:41 showing on the clock.

At that point, neither team was able to score for the next two minutes. Finally Leighton broke the ice for IUSB when he sank the critical trey from the corner directly in front of the IUSB bench.

Four of the five USF starters scored in double figures. Junior guard Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) had a monster game, recording his second double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. He also added 4 assists. Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) narrolwy missed his 12th double-double of the year as he collected 14 points and 9 rebounds. Both senior forward Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) and freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) finished the game with 13 points.

The Saints outrebounded IUSB 42-31 but also committed 16 turnovers compared to the Titans’ total of just 5.

USF (11-17, 2-7) closes out the regular season on Saturday night against Olivet Nazarene at 7:30 p.m. in the second half of a women’s and men’s doubleheader with the Tigers at the Recreation Center.

USF will enter next week’s CCAC tournament as the No. 5 seed and will play a quarterfinal game Tuesday night on the road at the No. 4 seed, most likely Saint Xavier.

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FEB. 21 :
USF 75, ILLINOIS TECH 53

JOLIET — The University of St. Francis men’s team has faced a lot of obstacles in the 2008-09 season but not one of those barriers has been able to make the Saints quit. And for that, USF veteran head coach Pat Sullivan couldn’t be more pleased.

“These guys have busted their tails all season long,” said Sullivan after watching his team snap a five-game losing streak with a 75-53 win over visiting Illinois Tech. “We’ve lost close to a half-dozen players for one reason or another but the other guys just keep stepping up and battling. Tonight, the hard work paid off for them and they were able to enjoy a nice win. I’m really happy for them.”

USF (11-16, 2-6) notched its first victory since beating this same Illinois Tech team in Chicago back on Jan. 24 in their first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference meeting of the season. The Saints grabbed their first lead at 10-8 with just under 15 minutes to play in the first half and never relinquished the advantage the rest of the way.

USF slowly built the lead and carried a 6-point margin into the locker room at halftime with the score at 36-30.

The Saints then did what coaches universally tell their teams when leading at halftime. They went out and controlled the first five minutes of the second half and established control of the game.

USF scored the first 6 points of the second half to double the lead and push the score to 42-30. IIT scored 4 points to trim the lead to 8 at 42-34 and it was an 8-point margin again at 47-39 with 15:13 left. But that was as close as the Scarlet Hawks would get the rest of the night.

USF got the lead back to double digits at 57-46 at the 8:40 mark and never let IIT get it back to single figures again.

The Saints got another big performance from senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) who registered his 11th double-double of the season with a game-high 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Three other Saints joined Robinson in double figures in the scoring column. Senior forward Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) added 18 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL), who returned to action after missing the last two games with a concussion, finsihed with 15 points and junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) contributed 11 points and 8 boards.

The Saints shot just under 50 percent from the floor (31-of-66, 47.0 percent) and made 6-of-11 3-point attempts. Hubly hit 3 treys in 5 attempts and junior Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) made both of his attempts.

The win was the 498th for Sullivan who is in his 33rd year as head coach at USF. He has spent his entire collegiate coaching career with the Saints after coaching at Providence High School in New Lenox in the early part of his career.

USF plays two more CCAC games at home this coming week as it wraps up the regular season. The Saints entertain Indiana South Bend on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (one half hour earlier than normal) and then play host to Olivet Nazarene on Saturday evening.

USF stands 2-6 and in fifth place in the current CCAC standings. Second-place IUSB is 6-2 and is coming to Joliet off an impressive overtime win at Saint Xavier earlier on Saturday. Olivet is 4-4 and currently tied with SXU for third place.

The CCAC tournament begins a week from Tuesday. The top two teams in the final regular season standings receive a bye into the semifinals. The third-place team hosts the sixth-place squad and the fourth-place team entertains the fifth-place finisher in the quarterfinals on that Tuesday.

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FEB. 14:
SAINT XAVIER 76, USF 56

CHICAGO — Different day. Different side of Chicago. Almost the exact same result.

Just as it did in a 76-52 loss to No. 9 Robert Morris on Wednesday night on Chicago’s north side, USF played Saint Xavier almost dead even for the first 10 minutes of the opening half only to see a spurt by the opponent shift the momentum and produce a halftime lead that was just too much to overcome. SXU grabbed a 16-point halftime advantage and went on to post a 76-56 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Saints Saturday afternoon at the Shannon Center on Chicago's southwest side.

USF (10-16, 1-6) trailed 7-0 and 12-5 in the game’s early moments but thanks to some 3-point sharpshooting from junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) and fine inside play from senior forward Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) the Saints were able to claw back and take a 17-15 lead with 13 minutes left in the half.

SXU (15-12, 4-3) scored the next 6 points but Rabenau answered with a bucket and it was still a 4-point game at 23-19 in favor of the Cougars with 11 minutes left until halftime.

But SXU caught fire and reeled off a 16-4 spurt to end the half and give the hosts a commanding 39-23 lead as the two teams headed into the locker rooms.

USF played the Cougars fairly even in the second half, with Gunderson providing the bulk of the offense with 8 3-point baskets on the day for a game-high total of 24 points. Rabenau finished with 16 points.

“It really was reminiscent of the Robert Morris game the other night,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “We played really well after a slow first couple of minutes and had the tempo right where we wanted it. We got a lead but we just couldn’t hold on to it.

“It seemed like the game changed very quickly. One time I look up at the board and we are ahead 17-15,” continued Sullivan. “The next time I remember looking up Saint Xavier had a lead of 12 or 14 points."

Sullivan couldn’t stop praising Gunderson after the game.

“Gundy probably had the best individual game of anybody on our team this season.  Sam (Robinson, Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) scored 31 one night in California during our Christmas trip but Gundy’s game today was special.

“Ryan played 16 minutes. I think the only time we took him out was when he got his fourth foul,” said Sullivan.  “He handled the ball well against their pressure (just 1 turnover) and nailed all those shots. With Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) out (concussion), Ryan is really our only 3-point threat. He was a marked man against them today and he still hit 8-of-11 threes. It was a tremendous performance.”

Gunderson and Rabenau were the only two Saints to score in double digits. Robinson led the team with 8 rebounds and junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) topped the offense with 6 assists.

The loss was USF’s fifth in a row, all in conference play. The Saints are off until next Saturday evening when they return home to face Illinois Tech at 7:30 p.m.  USF’s last win was an 81-72 verdict at Illinois Tech on Jan. 24. 

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FEB. 11:
ROBERT MORRIS 76, USF 52

CHICAGO -- A momentary lapse here and a momentary lapse there.

The University of St. Francis could ill afford to have either against NAIA Division I No. 9-ranked Robert Morris College yet had both in a 76-52 loss to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference leader Wednesday night at the Joseph Gentile Center on the campus of Loyola University.

Playing anything but like a St. Francis team that had dropped four of its last five games, including an earlier 82-65 loss to the Eagles, the Saints went toe-to-toe with Robert Morris during the game's first 13 minutes.

But after building a brief 20-18 lead behind the play of senior guard Dan Kieres (Northridge Prep H.S./Chicago, IL) (11 points) and senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) (10 points, 15 rebounds), the first lapse kicked in. Talent-laden Robert Morris (19-3, 7-0) needed just 2:03 to put up 11 quick unanswered points and the Saints found themselves trailing by their largest margin up to that point, 29-20.

By halftime, the Eagles had extended the advantage to 35-24.

"We had the right game plan and we executed it real well in the first half except for the turnovers," said USF head coach Pat Sullivan, whose team had 13 turnovers at the break. "We attacked them well offensively and we battled them hard defensively. But the turnovers ... that allowed them to get the lead."

Momentary lapse No. 2 arrived shortly after halftime and took just 38 seconds for Robert Morris to post an 8-0 burst and gain a 47-27 lead just 3:45 into the second half.

From there, Robert Morris took over, going up by as many as 27 points twice, 69-42 and 71-44, en route to its 13th win in a row. The Eagles also moved to within one victory of clinching at least a share of another conference title.

St. Francis (10-15, 1-5) never did get back into the game after falling behind by the 20-point margin after the first 5 minutes of the second half due to its turnovers and a tough shooting night. The Saints finished with 24 turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent from the field (20-of-60), leading to one of their lowest scoring nights of the year.

"Our objective now is to work hard to close out the conference season and get back here for the tournament championship game," said Sullivan. "We know the game plan to beat them. We just have to execute."

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FEB. 3:
OLIVET NAZARENE 74, USF 62

BOURBONNAIS — An ice-cold first half and a sound beating on the offensive boards were too much for University of St. Francis to overcome as the Saints dropped a 74-62 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at Olivet Nazarene on Tuesday night.

After jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the game’s first two minutes, USF (10-14, 1-4) struggled offensively for the rest of the opening half. The Saints were outscored 33-14 in the final 18 minutes and went into the locker room facing a 33-19 deficit.

USF shot just 25 percent (6-of-24) in that opening stanza and gave ONU (10-11, 3-2) numerous second chances at the other end as Olivet pulled down 13 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

USF also battled foul problems in the first half as starting center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) picked up two quick fouls and spent a good portion of the period on the bench.

The Saints and Rabenau finally got their offense going in the second half. USF trimmed the lead to just 8 points at 40-32 in the first five minutes of the half and kept the game within reach for much of the half.

Each time, though, that the Saints appeared poised to make a run, Olviet would respond with a run of its own.

The score was 64-54 with almost 5 minutes remaining when USF was ready to make one final push. But the Tigers scored three buckets in the next 90 seconds to push the margin to 16 points and end any comeback hopes that the Saints entertained.

Rabenau led the Saints with 17 points and he notched 14 of those in the second half when he made 7-of-8 shots from the floor. He also shared team rebounding honors with junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) as each of them had 5 boards.

Junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) added 13 points, Therkield had 12 and senior point guard Hozay McGaha (Lane Tech H.S./Chicago, IL) finished with 10.

USF shot considerably better in the second half, nailing 19-of-29 shots from the floor (65.5 percent) and sinking 3-of-5 3-point shots.

USF is now off until next Wednesday, Feb. 11, when it starts the second round of play in the CCAC with a game at Loyola University’s Gentile Center against league-leading Robert Morris. USF fell to Robert Morris, 82-65, at the Rec Center on Jan. 17.

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JAN. 31:
INDIANA SOUTH BEND 78, USF 68

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After battling back from a 12-point first-half deficit and then matching Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Indiana University South Bend point for point midway through the second half, University of St. Francis suffered a system-wide shutdown over the final six minutes of the contest resulting in a 78-68 setback Saturday afternoon.

The Saints (10-13, 1-3) faced their biggest deficit of the day, 33-21, with 3:20 remaining in the opening half before converting on each of their next three possessions, including one three-pointer and another traditional three-point play to pull to within 33-29.

Indiana South Bend (8-15, 3-1) broke up the eight-point run with a free throw just before the end of the half to go into the break with a 34-29 advantage.

St. Francis, however, wasn’t about to let up, knocking on the door no less than four times in the first ten minutes of the second half in attempting to grab its first lead since Billy Hubly’s (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) opening three-pointer.  Try as they might, the Saints could get no closer than within one point each time.

Finally, with 9:54 remaining, Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) and the Saints crashed through the barrier with a resounding dunk on a rebound basket to give USF a 50-49 lead.  From there, the lead changed hands eight times over the next three minutes before the start of the Saint meltdown.

“I liked our effort today,” said USF head coach Pat Sullivan.  “To be down 12 against a good team on the road and come back to take the lead was super.

“Unfortunately, we made critical turnovers and had defensive lapses down the stretch and in six minutes out of 40, the game changed.”

In that final stretch drive, the Saints had two crucial turnovers and allowed Indiana South Bend to convert six of its final eight shots with five being layups.  Added to that, the Titans were perfect from the foul line (11-of-11) as part of an overall 20-of-23 effort from the charity stripe on the day.

In conjunction with those lapses, the Saints missed each of their next six shots from the field after grabbing their final lead of the day, 56-55, and made just 4 of 13 (30.8 percent) in the closing stretch with three missed layups.

“We keep making turnovers at crucial times in the game and keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Sullivan, whose team turned the ball over 19 times on Saturday.  “That and you can’t have defensive lapses like we have been having, especially with two of the better players (Tyler Leighton and Ben Werner) in the conference on the court.”

“They are going to hurt you.”

They did on Saturday with the 5-11 Leighton scoring a game-high 26 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists and Werner posting 19 points.

St. Francis received a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds from Robinson.  Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) added 18 points and seven rebounds, all of which came in the closing 20 minutes.

Hubly contributed another 16 points with four treys.

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JAN. 27 :
SAINT XAVIER 71, USF 65

JOLIET — Visiting Saint Xavier grabbed a 34-32 lead a little more than a minute into the second half and the Cougars never again relinquished the advantage as they snapped a five-game losing streak and defeated University of St. Francis, 71-65, at the USF Recreation Center Tuesday night.

USF (10-12, 1-2) and SXU (11-11, 1-2) went back and forth in the first half of this Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference game, with neither team ever leading by more than 7 points. The Saints held the early edge, building that 7-point lead at 11-4 in the contest’s first five minutes.

SXU rallied to overcome the Saints and led by as many as 5 points at 25-20 before the two teams settled for a 31-31 tie as they went to the locker rooms at halftime.

The Cougars took control in the second half but were never able to push their lead to more than 8 points. The Saints, though, were never able to get even again after the score was briefly tied at 34-34 early in the final half.

The closest USF could get in the final 10 minutes was 3 points and the last time it whittled the margin to that point was at 68-65 with 30 seconds remaining. USF was not able to get the ball while trailing by only three and never had a chance to tie the game on any one possession in the final minutes of play.

Junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) enjoyed his third straight outstanding game by pouring in a game-high 23 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. The 23 points eclipsed his career high of 20 which he established just 10 days earlier in a loss to No. 10-ranked Robert Morris College.

Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Freshman guard/forward Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) scored 15 points and sank 4-of-5 3-point shots on the night. Senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) added 10 points for USF.

Senior point guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL), who battled the flu all day long prior to the game, scored just 3 points but he did dish out a game-high 7 assists and pull down 7 rebounds.

The loss marked the 13th straight time that USF has fallen to Saint Xavier.

The Saints travel to South Bend, Ind., for another CCAC matchup when they play Indiana South Bend on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST).

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JAN. 24 :
USF 81, ILLINOIS TECH 72

CHICAGO — Juniors Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) and Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) each scored 18 points to lead four University of St. Francis scorers in double figures as the Fighting Saints held off a determined upset bid by Illinois Tech with an 81-72 victory Saturday afternoon at Keating Hall on the IIT campus.

Therkield also recorded a double-double, leading all rebounders in the game with 10 boards. Gunderson was the Saints’ top outside shooting threat as he made all four of his 3-point triesand finished 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

The two teams traded leads in the game’s first 13 minutes before USF (10-11, 1-1) took a 25-23 edge and the Saints never trailed again. Illinois Tech (5-13, 0-3) made things interesting in the final 10 minutes, tying the game briefly at 54-54 and then whittling the margin to just 3 points at 69-66 with 2:41 remaining.

USF, though, kept its poise and managed to secure the road win down the stretch.

“We played very well in the last three minutes and did a good job of finishing the game,” said Saints’ coach Pat Sullivan. “We took care of the basketball in the final couple of minutes, played well defensively and got some very big rebounds.

“If I had to pick out any individuals for game balls, I would have to choose David Altman (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S./Homewood, IL) and Tristan,” continued Sullivan. “David did not play like a freshman out there today. He really came through for us with both Rob (Rabenau, Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) and Sam (Robinson, Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) in foul trouble.

“Tristen was so important because he started the game at small forward and had to move to the power forward slot when Sam got the early fouls. And he was equally effective at both spots,” continued Sullivan.

“This is always a tough place to play,” said Sullivan, “regardless of what Illinois Tech’s record is entering the game. I think back to one of our conference championship years when we finished 10-2 and one of our losses was here.

“It was very important for us to get our first league win, especially with Saint Xavier coming to Joliet on Tuesday night.”

In addition to Therkield and Gunderson, USF got double-digit scoring performances from senior point guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) who had 12 points and Altman who notched 11. The Saints shot well, hitting at a 52.9 percent (27-of-51) clip from the field, while making 8-of-15 3-point tries. They also edged out IIT on th boards by a 36-35 margin.

USF plays host to Saint Xavier Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. a the Recreation Center.

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JAN. 17:
ROBERT MORRIS 82, USF 65

JOLIET – A dry spell of just over six minutes in the latter part of the first half ruined any hopes University of St. Francis had for spring an upset on NAIA No. 10 Robert Morris.

The Fighting Saints (9-11, 0-1) trailed just 12-10 with 10:26 left in the opening frame but then could not score again until the 4:16 mark.  By that time, the Eagles (13-3, 2-0) had run off 18 straight points and held a commanding 20-point advantage.  Robert Morris never let that lead get below 17 points the rest of the way on its way to an 82-65 victory in what was USF’s Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener Saturday night at the Recreation Center.

“The story of the first half was the first 10 minutes,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “We had the tempo we wanted, the shots we wanted, but we just weren’t making the shots.

“We had key players who just did not play well,” continued Sullivan.  “Not that they didn’t want to play well, they just didn’t.

“You can’t beat anybody, let alone a quality team like Robert Morris, when you shoot 18 percent in the first half.”

That horrid first-half shooting saw the Saints make just 6-of-33 shots on their way to a 42-21 deficit at the break.  USF played much better, as evidenced by better shooting numbers, in the second half.

The Saints made 15-of-31 shots and did not allow Robert Morris to extend the lead beyond 28 points and they whittled it down to just 17 on several occasions including the final score.

Junior guard Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) led USF with 20 points off the bench and made 7-of-12 shots from the floor. Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) added 16 before fouling out and freshman guard/forward Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) chipped in 12.

Senior point guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) – who stands just 6-0 -- scored just 2 points but made his presence known with a game-high 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

“We’re 0-1 in the conference,” said Sullivan. “That’s all it is. All we can do now is come back and go up to Illinois Tech next Saturday and get even in the league.”

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JAN. 10:
USF 75, CALUMET (IN) 67

HAMMOND, Ind. — Junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) poured in a game-high 22 points -- including 14 to help his team build a 17-point halftime lead -- and University of St. Francis knocked off Calumet College of St. Joseph’s (IN), 75-66, in the Saints’ final nonconference game of the season.

Gunderson knocked down 4-of-5 3-pointers in the opening half and made his only trey attempt of the second half to spark the Saints (9-10) to the wire-to-wire win.

USF scored the game’s first 5 points and quickly pushed the advantage to double digits as it built a 17-7 lead in the first seven minutes.

The margin grew to as much as 21 points at 35-14 with just under three minutes left until halftime and the Saints went to the locker room with a 37-20 edge.

USF twice extended the lead back to 21 points in the second half before the Crimson Wave made one final run at getting back into the game. Calumet (3-15) whittled the lead down and finally crept within 9 points at 63-54 with 3:19 left in the game.

Saints’ senior point guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) then drained what may have the most important shot of the game when his 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining put the USF advantage back up to a dozen points.

Calumet would not fold, though, and the hosts managed to get the deficit down to 6 points at 69-63 with 33 seconds left. USF’s Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) and Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) combined to make 6 straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Saints.

“That 3-pointer by Jeremy (Kreiger) was by far the biggest shot of the game,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “That prevented Calumet from getting any closer than 6 down the stretch. It was a huge shot and came at a point where we had been struggling to score for a few minutes.

“We played an outstanding first half,” continued Sullivan, “and did what we had to to do at the end of a poor second half to win the game. No game is ever easy to win, despite the record of your opponent. We struggled in the second half but I have to give Calumet and its coach Ryan Sexson a lot of credit for that. They used six different defenses against us in the second half alone and that caused us some problems.”

Gunderson had offensive help on the afternoon from two teammates who each tallied 16 points. Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) pulled down a team-best 9 rebounds to go along with his 16 points and Rabenau made 5-of-9 shots and 6-of-7 free throws on the way to his 16 points.

“We played a very difficult non-league schedule,” said Sullivan, “and I feel pretty good coming out of it with a 9-10 record. It won’t get any easier in our conference, especially starting off with Robert Morris next Saturday night at home.”

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JAN. 7:
GEORGETOWN (KY) 82, USF 51

JOLIET — Not even the smell of fresh brown and white paint in the spruced up University of St. Francis Recreation Center could distract the NAIA No. 9 Georgetown College (KY) Tigers on Wednesday night.

The southern visitors overcame an early 5-point deficit and won their 12th straight game with an 82-51 conquest of the Fighting Saints.

Georgetown (15-1), who knocked off USF’s Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Saint Xavier 85-63 on Monday afternoon in Kentucky, started slowly and found itself trailing the Saints (8-10) by a 13-8 score with 12:56 left in the first half.

The high-scoring Tigers, who came into the game averaging 89.0 points per contest, then found some energy and exploded with a 15-2 spurt to take a 23-15 edge over the next three-and-one-half minutes. USF would not get closer than 6 points the rest of the game.

Georgetown pushed the lead to 43-32 at halftime and then sealed the verdict by opening the second half with a 25-6 run to expand the lead to 30 points at 68-38 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

USF struggled offensively all night against the bigger Tiger squad, with only senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) finding any success. Robinson, the Saints’ leading scorer on the season with an average of 13.8 points per game, tallied 18 points and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds before fouling out at the 6:05 mark. Robinson was the lone Saint to finish in double figures.

Senior point guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) collected 9 points and sophomore guard Jeff Miller (Stagg H.S./Palos Hills, IL) come off the bench to add 7.

Georgetown was led by freshman forward Vic Moses who came off the bench to score 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

The Fighting Saints travel to Hammond, Ind., on Saturday afternoon for a nonconference matchup with Calumet College (IN) at 3 p.m.

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JAN. 3:
USF 69, PURDUE CALUMET 62

JOLIET. — On a night when USF’s top two leading scorers were held in check, the Fighting Saints had to look for offense elsewhere. And they turned their attention to a pair of guards -- one a freshman and the other a senior.

Freshman Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) nailed 6-of-9 3-point shots and finished with 20 points and senior Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) narrowly missed a triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds to lead the Saints (8-9) to a 69-62 non-conference victory over Purdue Calumet (2-12) at the USF Recreation Center Saturday night.

Hubly’s first 18 points came from beyond the arc as he nailed a pair of treys in the first half and four more in the second frame. He added two free throws in the final minute to help seal the win.

Kreiger made his presence known all over the court. He sank 7-of-13 shots, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and made both of his free throws in the game’s final 10 seconds to finish with a career-high 19 points. He dished out a career-best 11 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds to come within one board of his first career triple-double.

“And on top of all that,” said USF head coach Pat Sullivan, “I thought is was Jeremy’s defense that was the best part of his game tonight and was the key to our success.”

The Saints broke out to an early 14-6 lead with 12:52 left in the opening half before Purdue Cal rallied with a 14-2 run to capture a 20-16 lead with 8:56 left. The Peregrines increased their lead to as much as 7 points, the last time at 27-20, before USF began a surge in the final three-and-one-half minutes of the opening stanza.

Two 3-pointers by junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) and one by Hubly sparked a 15-3 Saints’ run to close out the half and give USF a 35-30 lead going into the locker room.

The Saints would never trail again. Purdue Cal forced ties at 35-35 and 41-41 but USF then started a 14-4 run that catapulted the Saints into a comfortable 55-45 lead with 10:08 remaining. The Peregrines would get no closer than 5 points the rest of the way, and that didn’t happen until there were just 16 seconds remaining in the game.

In addition to the scoring production from Hubly and Kreiger, the Saints got 10 points from starting center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL). Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL), the Saints’ leading scorer and rebounder for the season, finished with just 6 points but did grab 8 rebounds. Gunderson finished with 6 points on his two 3-pointers.

USF plays host to NAIA Division I No. 9 Georgetown College (KY) on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Recreation Center.

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DEC. 30 :
HOPE INTERNATIONAL (CA) 71, USF 66

AZUSA, Calif. — University of St. Francis couldn’t buy a basket in the first half to fall behind and then missed three shots in the final minute of the game with a chance to tie as the Saints fell for the second straight night at the Cougar Classic, losing 71-66 to Hope International (CA).

The Fighting Saints (7-9) managed to make just 6-of-24 shots in the first half -- and only 1-of-9 from 3-point range -- and trailed Hope International (3-6) by a 28-19 score at halftime.

“We had a terrible first half,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “It was so bad that we didn’t even talk about x’s-and-o’s at halftime but instead talked about whether or not we wanted to play the game.

“I was really proud of the way the kids responded in the second half and the way that they came out and played aggressively,” continued Sullivan. “We got ourselves back into the game and had a legitimate chance to win in the final minute.”

USF rallied from a 59-52 deficit with seven minutes remaining and finally tied the score at 59 apiece. A Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the game kept the Saints within 2 points at 68-66.

The Saints got the ball back and still trailed by that 2-point margin inside the final minute of play. USF had three shots to tie the game and missed all of them. They also committed a turnover and Hope International put the game away with 3 free throws in the final seconds.

“We had three great shots at tying the game or even going ahead and they just wouldn’t fall in,” said Sullivan. “Even after that horrible first half, the game was winnable.”

Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) led the Saints in scoring for the second straight night but had some help against Hope. Robinson, who tallied a career-best 31 vs. host Azusa Pacific on Monday, finished with 19 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) and freshman guard Derek Ciezczak (Stagg H.S./Hickory Hills, IL) each added 15 points and Hubly contributed 10.

The Saints improved their shooting percentage to 43.9 percent (18-of-41) in the second half to finish the game at 36.9 percent (24-of-65).

USF returns home on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip against Purdue Calumet (IN). The Saints defeated Purdue Cal by an 84-61 score on Nov. 8 in Hammond, Ind.

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DEC. 29:
AZUSA PACIFIC (CA) 100, USF 67

AZUSA, Calif. — Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) scored a career-high 31 points but got little offensive help from the rest of his teammates as tournament host and NAIA Division I No. 11 Azusa Pacific defeated the Fighting Saints 100-67 in the opening round of the Cougar Classic late Monday night.

Robinson single-handedly kept the Saints (7-8) within reach of the Cougars (7-4) in the first half as he collected 22 of the team’s 38 points. He added 6 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes and keyed a late surge that chopped a 21-point APU lead -- 42-21 -- to just a 10-point margin -- 48-38 -- at the intermission.

USF started very sluggishly and quickly trailed 19-4 less than four minutes into the game. Robinson then tallied 10 of the next 15 USF points. In the final run, Robinson poured in 10 of the 17 USF points as the Saints closed the half with a 17-6 spurt that got the score down to a 10-point margin.

The USF momentum, though, did not carry into the second half.

Azusa Pacific scored the first 9 points after the break to quickly extend the lead to a comfortable 57-38 bulge with 17:22 remaining. The run continued for the Cougars and the lead reached 31 points at 82-51 with 8:19 to go. The lead did not get any bigger until the final seconds and the 33-point margin at the end of the cotnest was the game’s biggest lead.

“The first five minutes of each half were absolutely critical,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “Azusa got off to an unbelievable start and had a kid that was shooting jsut 27 percent from 3-point range for the season step up and drain three straight threes to help them build the big lead at the start.

“But I was very proud of the way our kids battled and got back into the game at the end of the first half,” continued Sullivan. “We cut the lead to 10 points and showed that we could play with them.

“But they came out of the locker room and got the first 9 points of the second half and we were fighting uphill again.

“I am not disappointed with the effort but you can’t turn the ball over as many times as we did (24 to APU’s 14) and expect to be in the game with a good team like Azusa,” said Sullivan.

For the game, Robinson connected on 12-of-16 shots from the floor and 7-of-8 free throws. He also added a game-high 9 rebounds. He was the lone player to score in double figures for USF. Junior guard Ponce Palmer (Decatur MacArthur H.S./Findlay, IL) added 9 points and senior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) finished with 7.

“Sam (Robinson) was a warrior all night long,” said Sullivan. “He was brilliant. We just did not give him the help that he deserved.”

The Saints shot fairly well, making 25-of-48 field goals (52.1 percent) but struggled from 3-point range with just 2 treys in 11 tries (18.2 percent).

USF plays another California school -- Hope International -- at 8 p.m. (CST) in Tuesday’s final round of the Cougar Classic. Hope International (2-6) fell by an 88-83 score to Montana Western on Monday.

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DEC. 20 :
USF 77, EAST-WEST 56

CHICAGO --- The defense that it did not exhibit in a 95-82 loss to Judson University on Friday night was on full display Saturday afternoon for University of St. Francis with East-West University earning the wrath of the Saints.

Allowing its lowest point total of the season, USF gained a split of its two games in the Robert Morris College Classic with a 77-56 victory over East-West at Loyola University’s Alumni Gym.

The Saints (7-7) set the tone of the game from the very beginning, limiting the Phantoms to just two points through the contest’s first 10 minutes.  After making its first shot of the game to tie the contest at 2-all, East-West misfired on each of its next 15 shots, while also committing six turnovers.

USF started off slowly, as well, on offense, converting just two of its first eight shots before connecting on five of its next six in opening up an 18-2 lead at the 11:08 mark.

Freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL), making his first collegiate start, got things going for the Saints with three first-half three-pointers.  He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

“Billy had a real good game for us,” said USF head coach Pat Sullivan, whose team led 39-26 at the break.  “He hit some big shots for us and as a team we shot the ball well.”

The Saints hit 10 three-pointers on the day – their second most this season – in 24 attempts with Hubly nailing four and junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL), three.

“We learned some things in this tournament that we have to do to be successful the rest of the way,” added Sullivan.  “One thing we realized is that we have to be more patient with the ball.  We have been taking the early shot and it’s been killing our defense.

“That did not happen today.”

USF’s defense limited East-West to just 32.3 percent shooting (21-of-65) on the day. 

The Saints also made a quick recovery from one night earlier when they were outboarded, 50-35.  On Saturday, USF held a commanding 56-33 rebounding advantage with senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) (12 rebounds, 13 points) and senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) (11 rebounds) heading up the attack.  Rabenau also caught fire on the offensive end in the second half, where he tallied 16 of his game-high 18 points. 

“We defended and rebounded well today,” continued Sullivan.  “It was one shot and out for them.”

After falling behind by as many as 22 points, 51-29, early in the second half, East-West did make one serious charge at the Saints.  The Phantoms pulled to within 58-48 with 8:17 remaining before USF reeled off 10 of the next 13 points to put the game out of reach.

All 11 Saints who played in the game scored with six producing no less than 7 points.

“It was a big win for us with a lot of guys contributing,” closed Sullivan.   

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DEC. 19:
JUDSON 95, USF 82

CHICAGO --- One of the most common clichés in sport is about being ready to go to war.
         
University of St. Francis was just that for the first 20 minutes of its meeting with high-scoring Judson University at the Robert Morris College Classic on Friday night.
         
But when the Eagles brought out their heavy artillery in the second half, USF had no defense for it as Judson (8-6) hit for 55 second-half points in claiming a 95-82 victory.

The 95 points was a season high allowed by the Saints.
         
“I thought we played a good first half,” noted St. Francis head coach Pat Sullivan, whose team led 43-40 at the break.  “But we just let it get away from us in the second half.

“They were penetrating the zone and we weren’t sharp in the back of our zone to stop their penetration.”

That led to a pair of freshmen guards, Landon Skinner and Josh Edwards, having their way with the Saints.  Edwards authored 15 second-half points and Skinner, 12, en route to sharing game-high scoring honors with 20 points each.  As a cast, Judson had five of its six scorers tally no less than 12 points each.  LeStan Hopkins, the only Judson scorer not in that company, came off the bench to net eight points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.

Things started to break down for the Saints beginning at the 14:42 mark of the second half.  Over the next four minutes, St. Francis was outscored 14-2 to fall behind 67-52 with 10:31 remaining.  From there, the Saints mounted only one serious threat, closing the gap to 67-63 with 7:17 to play.

“I was proud of the fact that the kids did not give in after falling behind by 15 points (the widest margin of the game),” continued Sullivan.  “But when they went on their run, we just had some bad offensive possessions.”

Seven, to be exact.

USF (6-7) made only one of eight field goals during the deciding run as part of a second half in which the Saints shot just 40.5 percent.

In the first half, St. Francis stayed just ahead of Judson by shooting 55.6 percent with five three-pointers in six attempts.

After halftime, USF converted just three of 14 trey attempts.

Neither team could escape one another through the first 20 minutes with St. Francis building no more than a six-point lead and Judson just a three-point edge.

Besides Skinner and Edwards, two other Judson starters - Dewayne Robinson (19 points) and Ben Rayhorn (12) - combined for 31 points giving the Eagles a huge 71-42 scoring advantage over USF’s starting lineup.

Josh Weber added another 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds off the bench for the winners, who also claimed the rebounding title, 50-35.

Six different Saints hit for double figures with senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) (15 points/8 rebounds) leading the way. Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL), senior guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL), junior guard Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) and freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) each contributed 11 points.

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DEC. 13:
SIENA HEIGHTS (MI) 66, USF 51

ADRIAN, Mich. — University of St. Francis dug itself into a hole that was just too deep to get out of Saturday night, and the Fighting Saints dropped a 66-51 nonconference decision at Siena Heights University.

In the words of USF coach Pat Sullivan, the start was “horrendous” as the Saints (6-6) missed their first 8 shots and turned the ball over 4 times while SHU (6-5) raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Sullivan used two timeouts in the first 3:17 in trying to find a way to stop the early SHU run and kickstart his own team's offense.

USF finally broke the ice on a Ponce Palmer (Decatur MacArthur H.S./Findlay, IL) basket at the 14:07 mark and began to slowly chip away at the huge early deficit.

The Saints twice cut the lead to 10 points, the last time at 21-11 with 8:13 left in the opening half. But USF then hit another dry spell and SHU responded with a 22-8 run to finish off the half and take a 43-19 lead into the locker room.

USF battled in the second half and reduced a lead that once grew to 29 points at 59-30 to just 15 at the end of the game.

“I’m really proud of the way our kids continued to play hard even after the lead got to be insurmountable,” said Sullivan. “This could have been another Lewis game (where USF lost 89-44 on Nov. 29) but our guys kept working at the defensive end of the floor. They held a team that has been averaging better than 90 points a game to just 66 and forced them to shoot just 27 percent in the second half.

“The key to the game was the fact that we could only hit about 25 percent of our shots (7-of-27) in the first half,” continued Sullivan. “We couldn’t buy a basket and we turned the ball over way too many times to keep us in the game. I thought we had a chance to cut the lead to 6 or 7 points before halftime once we got it down to 10. But then we had another barrage of turnovers and missed shots and before we knew it we were down 24 at the half.”

USF shot considerably better in the final 20 minutes, sinking 11-of-23 field goals (47.8 percent) and managing to push its shooting percentage up to a more respectable 36 percent for the game (18-of-50). The Fighting Saints also outrebounded the host Saints by a 43-37 margin.

Junior guard Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) was the lone USF player to score in double figures as he finished the game with 16 points. He also shared team rebounding honors with senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) as each played grabbed 7 boards.

The shooting woes affected nearly every USF player. Only two Saints shot better than 50 percent and those were reserve freshman guards Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) and Floyd Trice (Hyde Park Academy/Chicago, IL) who each made their only shot of the game.

USF is off until next Friday when the Fighting Saints travel to Chicago to play Judson in the first round of the Robert Morris Christmas Classic.

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DEC. 6 :
USF 77, PURDUE NORTH CENTRAL (IN) 62

JOLIET --- Bothered by Purdue University North Central’s zone defense in the first half, University of St. Francis gave the Panthers a taste of their own medicine midway through the second half to pull away from the pesky guests in a 77-62 Saint victory Saturday night at the Rec Center.

Head coach Pat Sullivan’s club was sailing right along through the first nine minutes of the game using its transition game and inside attack to build an opening 15-5 advantage.

But the fun stopped there.

Purdue North Central (2-8) switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone attack and things suddenly got more difficult for the Saints.

Forcing St. Francis (6-5) to rely on its outside attack, the Panthers eventually whittled the deficit down to one point twice before settling for a two-point deficit at the break, 33-31.

The score might have been reversed and the Saints might have even found themselves in a deeper hole had it not been for Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) off the bench. The junior guard was the only Saint hitting from the outside after Purdue North Central went to its zone look, converting 4-of-7 three-pointers and five baskets overall in a 14-point first half. He finished the night with a career-high 17 points via five treys and six baskets overall.

“Gundy kept us in the whole first half,” said Sullivan. “If not for him, we might have been in trouble.”

The Saints might have also been in trouble had they not gotten back to their inside attack, either, a point Sullivan stressed at the break.

“We needed to get inside touches and we weren’t in the first half,” pointed out the veteran head coach. “We had the advantage inside and we weren’t using it.”

That came hand in hand with the Saints’ “32” zone resulting in USF outscoring PUNC 14-2 to turn a 48-46 edge into a 62-48 lead with 7:21 to play. From that point on, the Saints never led by less than double digits the rest of the way.

6-5 forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) was the biggest contributor during the second-half run accounting for nine of the 14 points. That was just part of a huge second half for the senior. After netting just four points in the first 20 minutes, Robinson delivered 18 markers in the second half to finish with a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

“Sam really had a nice finish for us and as a team we had a nice run at the end and that ballooned the score,” said Sullivan.

Senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) was the third Saint to score in double figures amassing 12 points, while senior guard Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) dished out 10 assists.

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DEC. 2:
USF 70, TRINITY INTERNATIONAL 66

DEERFIELD -- Two weeks removed from showcasing his talents on the football field, University of St. Francis' Ponce Palmer (Decatur MacArthur H.S./Findlay, IL) put his basketball game on display on Trinity International University's Meyer Sports Complex court Tuesday night and the reviews were impressive.

Palmer, making his first-ever start for USF, scored 19 points in helping the Saints snap a four-game losing streak with their 70-66 victory over Trinity International.

"We started Ponce tonight because he's had some great practices," said USF head coach Pat Sullivan. "He can make some plays that are spectactular. But the bottom line is we have to get the effort from everybody."

Sullivan got the effort from Palmer, a senior guard, and senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) in the first half with Palmer netting nine points and Rabenau delivering 16 of his season-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.

Yet despite shooting 51.5 percent from the field (17-of-33) and limiting Trinity International to 35.9 percent (14-of-39), the Saints trailed 39-37 at the break.

That was due to Trinity International (1-8) hitting five three-pointers and the Trojans netting 13 points off six USF turnovers opposite just four points for the Saints off TIU's miscues.

It could have been worse had the Saints not gone on an 8-1 scoring run to close out the half.

USF (5-5) used that momentum to carry it into the second half where the Saints accounted for 10 of the first 12 points of the closing half to gain a 45-41 lead.

St. Francis never lost the lead after that, pushing the advantage as high as 64-55 with 5:31 remaining before Trinity International made things interesting.

The Trojans eventually pulled within 64-61, but Palmer came up with a big rebound basket with 2:24 left. Trinity had two other chances to make things tighter after the Saints missed four straight free throws while maintaining a 68-64 lead. The Trojans, however, could not capitalize in the closing minutes.

"It was a great win to come back from such a brutal game on Saturday," said Sullivan, remembering Saturday's 89-44 thumping by Lewis University . "You have to have kids who have great character to come back from getting beat by 45 points in front of your friends and family.

"I was just pleased by our defense tonight, especially at the end of the game to bring it home."

The Saints held Trinity International to 36.4 percent shooting for the game and limited the Trojans to 27 second-half points.

USF returns home Saturday night to face Purdue University North Central at 7:30 p.m. The Saints hope to have Rabenau back by then after he left Tuesday's game nursing a foot injury with seven minutes to play.

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NOV. 29:
LEWIS 89, USF 44

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. --- Lewis University held University of St. Francis to its lowest point total in nearly four years and extended the Saints’ losing streak to four games as the Flyers coasted to an easy 89-44 victory in the neighboring rivalry at Neil Carey Arena Saturday night.

The 44 points marked USF’s lowest output since a 73-39 defeat at the hands of The College of Wooster (OH) back on Jan. 7, 2005.

Lewis (4-1) accounted for the game’s first eight points before the Saints (4-5) rallied to close the gap to two points twice, 11-9 and 13-11, in the game’s first seven minutes.  The Flyers, however, took control from there accounting for 17 of the game’s next 19 points in opening up a 30-13 advantage with 8:56 to play. 

Lewis’ 61.1 percent shooting effort from the field (22-of-36) in the first half combined with USF’s 36 percent mark (9-of-25) and 13 turnovers created a 49-25 advantage at the break for the Flyers, which also turned out to be the largest margin of the opening 20 minutes of play.

Things did not get any better in the second half for St. Francis as Lewis reeled off 25 of the first 30 points after the break to put the Saints away for good, setting them back by 40 points at 70-30 with 13:11 to play.

As bad as USF’s shooting percentages were in the first half, they got even worse in the second half as the Saints connected on only 4-of-25 attempts from the floor (16 percent) to finish the night at 13-of-50 (26 percent).  From beyond the three-point arc, they were even more futile at 7.7 percent, making just one of 13 attempts on the night.

For the game, the Saints actually made more free throws (17) than field goals (13).

Senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) was the lone Saint to score in double figures.  He finished with 14 points.  Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) was next in line with eight markers, with no other Saint notching more than four points.

As for Lewis, 12 of 13 Flyers scored with eight netting eight or more points topped by Brandon Dagans’ 15 points.

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NOV. 25 :
ASHFORD (IA) 74, USF 72

JOLIET — University of St. Francis couldn’t hold on to a 13-point lead in the second half and fell victim to some clutch 3-point shooting as visiting Ashford University (IA) escaped the Recreation Center with a 74-72 victory Tuesday night.

The Fighting Saints (4-4) led by 5 points -- 32-27 -- at halftime and quickly extended the lead to double digits in the second half. A free throw by senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) at the 14:10 mark gave USF the 13-point edge at 47-34.

Ashford (5-3) responded with back-to-back 3-point buckets to quickly slice the margin to 7 points at 47-40. USF then righted itself to keep the lead between 7 and 9 points for the next three minutes but Ashford kept chipping away and climbed within a point at 52-51 with 10:25 remaining.

Following a USF timeout, the Fighting Saints regrouped and rebuilt the margin to 6 points at 57-51 and still led by 5 at 63-58 with just under 7 minutes to go.

Ashford then turned the tide again with a 6-0 run that gave the visiting Saints their first lead since the first half at 64-63 with 4:54 left.

The two teams traded the lead a few more times and USF found itself with a 68-67 edge following a pair of Jeremy Kreiger (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) free throws with just 48 seconds left on the clock.

Ashford, though, had a quick answer for that when Josh Pickens knocked down a shot to give the visitors a 1-point lead 10 seconds later.

The back-and-forth game continued with USF’s Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) putting the hosts back in front 70-69 with a jumper at the 25-second mark.

But Pickens -- who won Ashford’s previous game with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer on Saturday night -- answered Rabenau’s hoop with another 3-pointer at the 18-second mark to give Ashford a 72-70 lead. The visiting Saints then stole the inbounds pass and Daniel Joiner was fouled and made 2 free throws to extend the lead to 74-70 with 15 seconds left.

USF drove the floor and got a Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) basket at the 6-second juncture to cut the lead to 74-72 and quickly called its last timeout.

A heads up defensive play by USF got the ball back at the 4-second mark when Kreiger and Therkield tied up Pickens in the corner and forced a held ball with USF having the possession arrow pointing in its favor.

But the hosts were unable to get off a shot as Ashford tipped away the inbounds pass and survived the hectic finish.

Robinson and Therkield led USF with 16 points apiece and Rabenau and Kreiger each added 12. Robinson led the Saints with 13 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the young season.

Joiner led Ashford with 23 points and Pickens added 17, with 14 of them coming in the second half.

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NOV. 18:
ST. AMBROSE (IA) 83, USF 72

JOLIET — University of St. Francis couldn’t score until five minutes had elapsed Tuesday night and found itself trailing visiting St. Ambrose (IA) 10-0. The Saints played the fighting Bees pretty even the rest of the way but that ice cold start was too much to overcome as SAU pinned an 83-72 non-conference loss on USF at the Recreation Center.

USF did battle back and actually took a brief one-point lead at 22-21 with 7:02 left in the opening half. But that was the only advantage the Saints would have in the game.

St. Ambrose snapped a 24-24 tie at the 4:46 mark and finished the first stanza on a 12-4 run to go into the locker room with a 36-28 halftime lead.

The Bees pushed the margin to as much as 14 at 48-34 and USF was unable to climb within single digits until the 9:47 mark when it closed the gap to 54-46.

The Saints then cut the lead to just 4 points at 54-50 and again at 56-52 but could not get any closer.

USF shot just 37.1 percent from the floor for the game and made only 1-of-13 3-point attempts. Virtually all of the Saints’ offense came from the inside with the starting front line of Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL), Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) and Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) combining for 39 of the Saints’ 72 points. Add to that a 10-point effort off the bench by freshman post David Altman (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S./Homewood, IL) and the Saints finished the night with 49 of their 72 points coming from up front.

St. Ambrose dominated the rebounding battle, outboarding USF by a wide 49-36 margin.

Rabenau led USF with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 marksmanship from the free throw line. Robinson added 14 points and led the Saints with 14 rebounds. Therkield and Altman each poured in 10 points, with Altman getting all his points in the first half.

USF is now off for a week and plays again next Tuesday when it hosts Ashford (IA) in the second half of a women’s and men’s doubleheader at the Recreation Center. The USF women play host to Purdue Calumet in the first game of the twin bill at 5:15 p.m. with the men’s game vs. Ashford to follow.

The Saints were originally scheduled to travel to Hammond, Ind., to play Calumet College on Saturday but that game was switched to Jan. 10 due to a scheduling conflict at the Hammond Civic Center.

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NOV. 15:
BETHEL (IN) 84, USF 71

ELGIN, Ill. — NAIA Division II No. 2-ranked Bethel College (IN) entered Saturday’s title game at the Judson Tournament with an impressive 4-0 record and some eye-popping offensive statistics. But the Pilots found out that 4-1 University of St. Francis, coming off a disappointing 10-19 season in 2007-08, was not going to roll over after looking at Bethel’s numbers and preseason ranking.

The Fighting Saints (4-2, 0-0) battled throughout the game, led for a good portion of the first half, and finally succumbed to Bethel, 84-71.

Bethel (5-0) had been averaging over 103 points per game and had whipped its first four foes by an average margin of 38 points per game.

But the Saints made sure that Bethel’s fifth game would not be as easy as its first four.

USF led by as many as 6 points at 23-17 midway through the first half and trailed by just 8 at 45-37 at intermission.

But Bethel opened the second half with a 9-0 run and the Saints found themselves in a 17-point hole and couldn’t dig their way out of it.

“They got us early in the second half,” said USF coach Pat Sullivan. “That’s been one of our problems the last three games, even though we won two of them. We just didn’t have that good initial start in the second half.”

The Saints never allowed the Pilots to extend the lead beyond 17 points but USF could not get any closer than 11 the rest of the way.

“I just thought we played a little bit tired today after the quick turnaround from (Friday) night’s game (an 85-75 USF win over Mount Mercy of Iowa),” added Sullivan. “The mental and physical mistakes that we made during the course of the game I felt were due to fatigue. But there are no excuses. We just got beat by a better team.”

USF placed four scorers in double figures, led by senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) who finished with 17 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jeff Miller (Stagg H.S./Palos Hills, IL) added 13 points, with junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) collecting 12 and freshman guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) pouring in 10.

The Saints return home on Tuesday evening to play St. Ambrose (Iowa) at 7:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center.

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NOV. 14:
USF 85, MOUNT MERCY (IA) 75

ELGIN, Ill. --- It has not taken long for University of St. Francis head coach Pat Sullivan to believe in the dribble drive offense.

After registering only 10 wins one year ago and averaging 71.5 points per game that season, the Saints installed the new-look offense in the off-season and the results, thus far, have been gratifying.

On Friday night, the Saints ran off their fourth victory of the season in five tries with an 85-75 decision over Mount Mercy College (Iowa) in the Judson University Tournament.  One year ago, win number four did not come until the middle of December.

For the second straight game, USF bolted out to a sizable advantage, taking a 46-30 lead into the break and extending that to 18 points in the opening seconds of the second half.

“We played very well in the first half, but our defense slipped in the second half and that is a cause for concern,” said Sullivan, whose team is averaging 80.2 points per game this year and is 4-0 when scoring 84 or more points.

Indeed, the defense did allow Mount Mercy to get back in the game with the Mustangs pulling to within four points, 65-61, with 7:07 left to play.

That is when “Big Red” stepped up for the Saints.

Seeing a weakness in Mount Mercy’s defense, senior center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) asked for the ball inside and his teammates obliged.

“We went to a different offense (post play) at the timeout because Rob wanted the ball inside,” noted Sullivan.  “Our guys did a really great job getting it into him and he took over from there.”

Rabenau accounted for eight of his game-high 18 points down the stretch and junior forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) (16 points) hit all four of his free throws in the closing minutes to keep the Mustangs just far enough at bay to send the Saints to Saturday’s championship game against NAIA II No. 2-ranked Bethel College (Ind.) at 4 p.m.

“Tristan not only had one of his more consistent games for us,” said Sullivan, “but his free throws at the end were big.”

Sullivan also had high praise for junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL), who came off the bench to score in double figures for the second straight game.  Gunderson finished with 12 points, going 4-for-5 from the field with a pair of three-pointers and held Mount Mercy’s top scorer, Jake Carey, to just four baskets in 14 attempts from the field.

“Gundy not only played well on offense, but we stuck him on their top gun and Ryan really played him well,” said Sullivan.

Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) turned in his fourth straight solid game, as well, going 7-for-9 from the field en route to his 16-point night.

“We didn’t feel that we played a great game," said Sullivan.  “But, at the same time, we still got the win despite not playing our A-game.  That’s a good thing.

“We will have our hands full tomorrow with Bethel.  They have outscored their opponents by a wide margin and are averaging over 100 points per game.”

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NOV. 12:
USF 88, INDIANA NORTHWEST 74

Five University of St. Francis players, including two off the bench, scored in double figures as the Saints ran their record to 3-1 with an 88-74 victory over Indiana University Northwest in the latter’s season opener Wednesday night.

Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) authored his third double-double of the season (15 points, 13 rebounds) with junior forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) just missing that club with his team-high 17 points and nine rebounds.

USF led by as many as 15 points in the first half, 44-29, with 3:04 remaining thanks to a 17-0 scoring advantage on second-chance points and a 29-11 rebounding benefit.  That lead was reduced to eight points, 46-38, by halftime before being completely wiped out in the first 3:34 of the second half when Indiana Northwest knotted the contest at 48-all.

Junior guard Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) and freshman guard Floyd Trice (Hyde Park Academy/Chicago, IL) both came off the bench to get the Saints back on track.  After USF was held to just one field goal through the first six minutes of the second half, Gunderson and Trice sparked a three-point barrage over the next 5:40. 

The Saints gained all 15 of their points during that stretch from beyond the three-point arc on 5-of-9 accuracy to reopen an 11-point lead, 64-53, with 9:16 to play and never led by less than eight points the rest of the night.  Gunderson and Trice combined for three of the five treys with Gunderson nailing 4-of-5 on the night for a career-high 14 points.  Trice registered another three en route to his 11 points.  He also contributed a game-high six assists, five rebounds and three steals.

“When they tied the score, we had to make up our mind what we were going to do, if we were going to step up or not,” said USF head coach Pat Sullivan.  “In the second half, we did not do the job inside and had to rely on our outside game.”

“Ryan Gunderson was the difference in the game.  He played just six minutes in the last game, but never sulked about not getting any time.  Tonight, he was terrific.”     

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NOV. 8:
USF 84, PURDUE CALUMET (IN) 61

HAMMOND, Ind. — For University of St. Francis on Saturday, it was a “lot of D” and a “bunch of 3’s” as the Fighting Saints charged out to an early lead and ran away from host Purdue Calumet, 84-61, in a non-conference matchup.

The Saints (2-1) limited PUC (0-3) to just 20 points in the first half and drained 6-of-9 shots from behind the 3-point arc to open up a 42-20 halftime advantage. USF added 6 more threes (6-of-13) in the second half and only let the margin slip below 20 points one time as it pulled away from the Peregrines on its way to the 23-point win.

“There were two big keys to the game today,” said veteran USF coach Pat Sullivan. “Our first half defense was incredible. When you can hold a college basketball team to 20 points in a half -- and I don’t care what level of college ball you are talking about -- that is quite an accomplishment. And then in the second half, the kids kept the defensive pressure on them and never let them make a run and get back in the game.

“The other big key,” continued Sullivan, “was our 3-point shooting. Purdue Cal was playing a sagging man-to-man defense and we responded by making a lot of outside shots. And it wasn’t just one or two guys that got hot. We had five different players make 2 or more 3-pointers and shot 55 percent on threes for the game.”

That kind of scoring balance helped the Saints preserve their big lead in the second half.

USF was led in both scoring and rebounding by senior Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) who notched his second consecutive double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Robinson was forced to start at center for the second straight game as senior Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) sat out again with an ankle sprain.

The Saints also got double-digit scoring from junior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) who tallied 16 points and sophomore guard/forward Jeff Miller (Stagg H.S./Palos Hills, IL) who collected 11.

Three other Saints narrowly missed double figures as freshman guard Floyd Trice (Hyde Park Academy/Chicago, IL) scored 9 points and frosh Derek Ciezczak (Stagg H.S./Hickory Hills, IL) and Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) each finished with 8 points.

For the game, USF shot 51 percent (31-of-61) from the floor and made 12-of-22 3-pointers. The Saints also committed just 10 turnovers.

USF goes back across the Hoosier border on Wednesday night when the Saints play Indiana University Northwest in Gary.

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NOV. 5 :
ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 81, USF 60

JOLIET — If only the Saints’ shooting could have been as warm as the pleasant early November weather outside the Rec Center on Wednesday night, the outcome might have been different.

As it turned out, University of St. Francis (1-1) shot just 32.3 percent from the floor and only 58.1 percent from the free throw line as the young Saints dropped an 81-60 decision to a veteran University of Illinois Springfield (1-0) team in a non-conference matchup.

Playing without the services of starting center Rob Rabenau (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL), who missed the game while nursing an ankle injury, USF started the contest with only one player standing taller than 6-3. Not only did the Saints miss Rabenau’s size, but as USF’s leading returning scorer and a first-team All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection a year ago, the Saints also sorely missed his scoring ability.

Still the young club -- who played large chunks of the game with four or five freshmen on the floor -- hung tough with the Prairie Stars for a half.

USF fell behind 7-0 and never led in the game but trimmed a 19-8 deficit midway through the first half to just a 1-point game at 21-20 with 4:55 left until halftime. It was still just a 2-point lead for UIS as halftime approached but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer pushed the Prairie Stars’ advantage to 5 points at 33-28 at the intermission.

UIS asserted itself early in the second half and quickly opened up a 16-point lead with a 13-2 run to open the half and make the score 46-30. The Saints played UIS even for the next 11 minutes and the margin did not reach 20 points until it was 70-50 with 4:51 left in the game.

Senior forward Sam Robinson (Washington H.S./Chicago, IL) led the Saints in both scoring and rebounding, notching a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. No other Saints scored in double digits but 10 of the 11 players did score at least 2 points in the game. In fact, all 10 of those players had scored prior to halftime.

USF shot just 28.1 percent in the opening half but stayed close thanks to holding UIS to only 40.0 percent marksmanship. The Prairie Stars warmed up considerably in the second stanza, hitting 16-of-27 field goals for a fine 59.3 percentage.

UIS placed five scorers in double figures, led by Jacob Motteler’s 17 points.

The Saints hit the road for their next two games. USF travels to Hammond, Ind., on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. tipoff at Purdue Calumet. Then on Wednesday, the Saints head to Gary for a matchup with Indiana University Northwest.

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NOV. 1:
USF 84, HUNTINGTON (IN) 70